Faroese Art History

From a historical viewpoint, fine arts in the Faroe Islands are quite a modern phenomenon. Although Faroese painters were active from the end of the 19th century, Faroese art does not reach a high level until the 1930s.

The new part of the Gallery (1993) contains exhibits of Faroese fine arts from 1930 until today.

All these works - figurative, abstract or somewhere in between - show as a typical Faroese world of motives. The display is basically in chronological order, with some sidesteps.

Even though painting is relatively new, Faroese handicrafts go back through the centuries, woodcarving and in particular knitting patterns were the popular forms.

The relief of knitted sweaters (above) is a slaute by a modern woman artist to the creativity of her foremothers.

And once in the 1830s, a Faroese amateur painter spontaneously created some pictures of birds (right) which look modern and are art!